Addiction, Ground Rents, and Urban Casino Development
By Martin Young and Francis Markham How to cite: Young M., & Markham F. (2020). Addiction, Ground Rents, and Urban Casino Development. Critical Gambling Studies , 6. https://doi.org/10.29173/cgs27 Casino development has become a favoured urban development strategy in a number of post-industrialising western economies (Hannigan, 2007). These developments are often justified on the basis that casinos attract reputedly rich and super-rich consumers from other places in what amounts to a rather convenient geographical transfer of value. These wealthy consumers, so the mercantilist argument goes, enrich both the casino owners and the broader public through taxes and license fees. Moreover, these gambling dollars are imported, while the effects and responsibility for problem gambling, one of the key arguments against gambling developments, are conveniently exported. A second argument, particularly favoured by the gambling industry and other casino proponents, is the creation of